The Government announced yesterday that it was dispatching about 40 people to help with search and rescue efforts in Nepal after the earthquake. However, that team was stood down after Nepal decided it was not needed.
Ms King said it was unclear why New Zealand's offer of search and rescue team had now been turned down and it was possibly because it was left too late and other countries had already stepped in.
New Zealand had a lot of expertise in such situations following the Canterbury earthquakes, she said, and Mr McCully should go back to Nepal and ask what else it could contribute.
"I don't think he should just stop because there is some view we are not needed there. I think he should go back, offer humanitarian support. And of course I think $1 million is just a starting point."
Labour's foreign affairs spokesman David Shearer had urged New Zealand to send a team quickly as soon as the scale of the earthquake was clear on Saturday. The Government had committed funding of $1 million toward the immediate response.
- Claire Trevett of the New Zealand Herald
